For a long time it looked dark for the Norwegian relay team, but an impressive recovery by Tarjei Bø, Vetle Sjåstad Christiansen and Johannes Thingnes Bø nevertheless ensured a Norwegian victory. – All credit to the other guys. They do some great stages all together and deliver really strong, says Sturla Holm Lægreid to news after the relay. The 25-year-old first delivered a brilliant lying series as the first Norwegian out, when he knocked down all five flashes with playful ease and went close. But his standing shooting was the exact opposite, almost a nightmare. REACTS: news’s biathlon expert Ola Lunde. Photo: Vidar Ruud / news – Lægreid’s standing shooting is simply lousy, said news’s biathlon expert Ola Lunde. Bæringen missed a total of four times, used all his extra shots, and had to go to the penalty round. Afterwards, France had a lead of 41 seconds. – This is too bad. He breathes like that on the stand and misses, said TV 2 expert Ole Einar Bjørndalen, and pointed out that Lægreid should not have taken the lead and gone out on the course. Lunde thought the same, and the biathlete himself admits after the award ceremony that it probably cost too much. – I think I went a little too far ahead. I have little respect for the others in the field, you could say. I have the status of second place in the World Cup overall and think that I will do all the rough work. WON AGAIN: Norway finally took the win, the team’s third this season – out of three possible. Photo: CHRISTOF STACHE / AFP Admits problems On news’s radio broadcast, there was also speculation as to whether Lægreid has been given a relay complex. He himself admits that he has struggled after he missed half of the shots at the Olympic relay in Beijing. – There’s something going on in my head, I just can’t hit the targets. I felt I did everything right before that, that I walked the course in a controlled manner and had a calm enough heart rate entering the stand, but something or the other happens. It has happened at the other relays I have run as well, says Lægreid to news. – Do you feel that you have got a relay complex? – I’ve got a relay complex, absolutely. After all, I haven’t shot two or three misses in other series than the relay. It’s something special, it’s something I have to figure out, says Lægreid and continues: – For me, it went smoothly until the Olympics and then I had a bad experience. And it has left a bit of a scar. But coach Siegfried Mazet will not go along with that. – Today, I don’t think it has anything to do with the Olympics. I don’t think he has a complex with the baton. We decided to go very aggressive today. Perhaps he was a little too aggressive on the course, and when he arrived at the stand I could see that he pulled the trigger with too much force. For me, he was wrong there, I think, says Mazet to news. Teammate Johannes Thingnes Bø also does not believe in the relay-complex theory: – Sturla is smart. It is important to admit your own complex before the media catches you. I don’t think deep down he believes he has, but he lays down and focuses on. He is tactical and I personally don’t think he has any complex for anything. – Gets a bit anxious The biathlon coach admits that he now has to have a chat with Lægreid about the way forward. Nevertheless, he wants to put Friday’s total crack behind him. But news’s expert is concerned. – He looked very troubled in the pictures I saw of him. Maybe he went a little too hard in the second round and should have let the others go a little. It can also be mental. That he simply gets a little anxious when he enters standing on a relay, says Lunde. – It is a real challenge. First and foremost, he must try to turn things around a bit with a view to the relay in Anterselva. It’s a mental job. He must try to make things simple, dare to start closer to the blinker and pull off the first time you see the black, says the news expert. ADMITS MISTAKE: Sturla Holm Lægreid admits that he shouldn’t have been in the lead as much on the course. Photo: CHRISTOF STACHE / AFP – Is he a safe first stage runner for Norway in the WC? – As of now, he is not. It can go very quickly if you manage to think the right thoughts. Now it is important that he puts it behind him as soon as possible and takes the simple things to make good standing shots. Lunde would therefore wreck Lægreid for the first stage next weekend in Anterselva, and attempt him as number two. But the main character wants to go. – I want to do the first leg again to manage to turn the tide. I can’t throw in the towel and be afraid of that stage. Rather, you have to face it “face on” and try and do the right thing, says Lægreid. Strong recovery Tarjei Bø alternated with Lægreid and Norway was then 40 seconds behind the lead. With one miss, Bø reduced the lead to 17 seconds when he switched with Norway’s third sent Vetle Sjåstad Christiansen. He delivered brilliantly in the track and with just one extra shot, Norway was suddenly in the close match with Germany when Norway’s anchorman Johannes Thingnes Bø went out for his leg. HUGE: Johannes Thingnes Bø led Norway to victory as anchorman. Photo: CHRISTOF STACHE / AFP He quickly showed why he is the world’s best biathlete, and it didn’t take long before he got a big gap ahead of Germany’s David Zobel. After Thingnes Bø had completed his first shooting with one extra shot, Norway led by 26.3 seconds ahead of Germany. – It’s completely rude to look at Johannes in relation to everyone else. It is a move and a speed that is so impressive, said Ola Lunde. On his standing shooting, Thingnes Bø had full control, and Norway was able to cruise to victory ahead of Germany and France.
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